Often times, organizations support multiple versions of a web site associated with a given online service, with each version being specific to a different geographical region. For example, a single enterprise may support a separate web site in each of multiple countries around the globe. Certain advantages exist to providing a different web site in each of several different regions. For instance, when the enterprise offers goods that can be shipped to customers, separate regional web sites may facilitate local shipping of the goods at reduced cost. Furthermore, separate regional web sites enable the enterprise to control which goods are offered in which regional markets. Therefore, the goods offered by each web site can be tailored to suit local tastes or interests.
In many cases, each web site of the enterprise is operated independent of the others. In such cases, the customer may need to create a different account for each of the sites. Therefore, when a customer who normally accesses a first web site of the enterprise in a first country wishes to access a second web site of the enterprise in another country, for example when on vacation, the customer may be required to separately register with the second web site. Therefore, the customer may be forced to register with the same online service multiple times.
Furthermore, customer data stored by the enterprise in association with the first site may not be directly accessible from the second site. That problem can be addressed by separately storing the customer data in relation to each web site the customer wishes to use. Unfortunately, such a solution results in unnecessary duplication of customer data and creates difficulty in relation to maintaining data consistency between the various web sites. In another solution, the customer data can be indirectly accessed by using the second web site as a portal to the first web site. For example, when the second site is accessed, the customer can be queried as to whether the customer has an account with another web site of another geographical region. When the customer identifies the first web site, the customer may then be invited to log in with the first web site to access customer data associated with that web site. In such a situation, the customer is required to log in twice, once for the second web site and a second time for the first web site.